


While in Guatemala

by welshyak



Series: Hooten & the Lady Hurt/Comfort [1]
Category: Hooten & the Lady (TV)
Genre: Comfort, F/M, Fluff, Gunshot Wounds, Hurt/Comfort, Mild Gore, Scene Gone Wrong, Suffering, at the end
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-06-28
Updated: 2017-06-28
Packaged: 2018-11-20 02:25:13
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,242
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11326704
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/welshyak/pseuds/welshyak
Summary: Hurt/Comfort fic for my two brave adventurers. First of a series of hurt/comfort fics (hopefully!!)While travelling in Guatemala, Alex gets shot.





	While in Guatemala

**Author's Note:**

> Dear Reader:  
> This contains a little bit of gore. I've tagged that, however, if you'd like additional reason not to read this, here it is.

They were traipsing through a jungle in Guatemala, looking for a precious artifact left over from one of the civilizations surrounding the Aztec empire.   
“This could change the way we look at that period of time!” Alex had explained, with that bright sparkle in her eye. Hooten hadn’t really paid attention - just enough to know what it looked like and how much it costed. He didn’t really care about the details, he considered himself a much less detailed-oriented person than Lady Alexandra Spencer Sarah Jessica Lindo-Parker (or whatever her name was). Much more straight-forward, in his opinion. 

They were trying to outrun a local group who were trying to protect the artifact from being removed due to its origins: it belonged there, in the opinion of the locals, and he had to admit, Hooten agreed. He voiced his concerns with Alex.

“Are you sure we could be taking this thing? Isn’t it kind of mean if we do?”

“The it you’re referring to is in fact a tablet, depicting what seems to be a ritual sacrifice.”

“Aren’t there hundreds of other tablets depicting the same thing?” Hooten asked.

“Yes,” conceded Alex, “But this one is different! It’s completely intact. pristine, even. Plus, the tablet is carved in a type of rock that isn’t found from around here, which would suggest some sort of trade relations, or-”

Alex didn’t have time to finish. Gunshots echoed through the forest, birds shrieking.

“Run!” Hooten yelled, his heart beating in his ears. 

They took off without a second thought, jumping over fallen trees, ducking under the foliage. The sweat clung to their skin - the humidity was so high that it wouldn’t evaporate. 

Another gunshot echoed, and a branch near Hooten’s head exploded. 

“These guys don’t fuck around!” Hooten said. 

Alex was running ahead of him, and it was she that heard the river first. 

“Come one! Head for the river!” she shouted. Hooten was not about to disagree. 

Panting, each step feeling like lead, Hooten jumped after Alex. Hands waving in the air, he saw Alex fall. It was then that he heard a gunshot. He couldn’t see where the bullet landed, but it sounded far away, which was a good thing, right? Or maybe it was just the roaring of the river.

The river was fast, but shallow enough not to have to strong of an undercurrent. There were cliffs on either side of it, which made getting out a little bit more difficult. 

Hooten cursed -he hoped to all that was good and holy that there wouldn’t be a waterfall. The last thing he needed was a goddamn waterfall. 

There was a waterfall. 

The drop wasn’t as bad as Hooten had expected, but it was always scary not knowing how far you were gonna fall when you had no choice but to do so. 

There was a small pool at the foot of the waterfall, the water cascading down the side of a small cliff. Alex swam out of the water first, Hooten behind her, laughing. 

“Don’t tell me that wasn’t fun.” he smiled. 

Alex turned to him, about to tell him off, when he noticed something. Her eyes were only half focussed, and her face was paler than pale. She pointed her finger at him, and tried to tell him off, but stopped. 

“Alex?” 

She hunched over and held her hand on her side. Alex looked up at him, and he could see fear and pain in her eyes. She pulled away her hand, and looked at it in surprise. From what he could see, Alex’s hand was painted red with blood. 

“Hooten?” she said weakly, her face growing paler by the second. 

Alex’s legs grew wobbly, and her hands fell to her sides. “Alex! Fuck!” He ran to her and caught her before she fell to the ground unconscious. Hooten tried to shake her awake, but couldn’t. Alex whined, but wouldn’t wake up. That last bullet had hit her, then. A thought crossed his mind and blotted out the sound of his own hard breathing: Get help. Don’t lose her too. 

Hooten started running, carrying Alex in his arms, cradling her like she was the most fragile of things in the world. 

If he knew the region well enough, had poured over the maps Alex had brought with her enough, then there would be a town close to the river’s edge where he could find help. 

It was five miles down following the river bank that Hooten found Retalhuleu, the town. 

Being wet and carrying a bleeding lady in his arms, Hooten was noticed quickly. He was taken to one of the small hostels in the town, and given a room. But he was told there was no doctor in town - the doctor had gone to a conference, and the replacement doctor had not come to take his place. The best they had was first aid medical officers from the local theme park. They asked what they could do for him.

Hooten’s mind was racing. He raked his fingers through his hair. He asked for any medical supplies they had, as well as alcohol and fresh fabric for dressing. 

“Oh-” he added, “And keep a blowtorch handy.”

Now, Hooten may be a worldly man, but he himself had only ever been shot once before in his life. And it was he that had to take care of himself. He remembered it vividly: the night in Sri Lanka that he had spent in agony. Plus, it was raining that night. Hooten hated rain. 

He laid Alex down on the small bed in the equally small room. Her breathing was fast, and shallow. Hooten lifted her shirt above her stomach to take a look at the wound. It was on the same line as her stomach, and it was a small wound, but the bleeding was bad. Hooten couldn’t think of what would happen to her if he didn’t do this properly. He didn’t want to - no, couldn’t - have another death on his hands. They were already soaked in too much blood as it was. Hooten couldn’t afford to lose her. He just couldn’t. Without her primness, without her daring and her courage, he would have been lost. Hell, he mused, he probably would have been dead long before now without her. 

“How does it look?” Alex asked in a raspy voice, making Hooten jump. 

He looked at her, and his worry must have been communicated somehow, because she said, “Is it really that bad?” Hooten shook his head. 

“No, the bullet’s small, and it’s not that deep,” he trailed off. 

“But…” Alex prompted, her voice sounding tired. 

“You’re bleeding a lot. And there’s no medic, but there’s me. So, overall, you’re in good hands.”

Alex chuckled, but it turned into a cough, which turned into a whine. 

“Lie still. I’ll fix you up. You’re gonna be fine.”

“Liar.” Alex had closed her eyes, and focussed on her breathing. 

Hooten smoothed the sweat from her brow, and whispered her name. “Alex, look at me.”

Alex opened her eyes, and Hooten could see the fear and the panic in them. “You’re going to be _fine_.”

“You promise?” her voice was shaky.

“I promise. I’m gonna get you outta here alive, trust me. I’ve done this before.”

“Why do I believe you?” she joked. Hooten smiled, his hands stroking the sides of her face, brushing the bangs from her eyes. 

A man returned with the items Hooten had requested, and went to leave. “No, stay. I may need help. I think she might be a kicker.” The man parked himself in the corner of the room. 

Hooten sorted himself and the items, and got to work. 

First would be the bullet. It wasn’t in deep - he could see it shining in the light of the well-lit room. Hooten grabbed the pair of tweezers, and went to re-examine Alex’s wound. He hesitated before pulling it out. Hooten grabbed one of the hand towels, and rolled it into a cylinder. He waved it in front of Alex’s face, who looked at him like he was mad. 

“Bite down on it. This part’s gonna hurt.” was all he said. Hooten saw a small flash of fright in her eyes, but she nodded and opened her mouth. Hooten placed it in her mouth gently. “And grip the sheets, it’ll make it easier.” 

She did as she was told. Hooten returned to the wound, and began the process of removing the bullet. 

One of the many things that will haunt Hooten for the rest of his life is how Alex screamed. It started out like a banshee, muffled as it was by the towel, as he’d expected, but her screams just broke down into long drawn out gasps, her hands pulling on the bedsheets like they owed her money. 

The bullet was out. Hooten called over the man who was waiting impatiently, and handed him his knife. “I need you to heat this up until it’s glowing.” The man understood, and left with his knife. 

Alex pulled her head up from its resting position to look over at Hooten, who was kneeling beside the bed. 

“What do you plan to do with a heated knife?” she asked after she spat out the gag. 

“You’re bleeding a lot. I’m going to try and cauterize the wound so that it’ll stop bleeding.”

Alex, half-confused as it was, shook her head. “I don’t understand.” she said simply.

“I’m going to put a really hot knife over your wound so that it’ll burn shut.” He looked at her, and wiped at his sweat streaked forehead with a bloody hand. 

“Oh.” Alex said. 

The man returned presently with a glowing hot knife. Alex eyed the knife like a horse eyeing a snake. Hooten replaced the gag in Alex’s mouth, and took the knife from the man, nodding his head in thanks as he did so. 

“On the count of three.” Hooten looked at Alex, and she nodded. 

“One, two-” he pressed the knife against the hole. Alex writhed in agony, her back lifting from the bloodied bed, her feet scrambling for purchase, her hands white-knuckled from holding the sheets. Her screams turned into sobs. 

Hooten gave the knife back to the man, who left, saying he’d cool it down.

“It’s over sweetheart. It’s ok, Alex. You’re gonna be ok.” He looked over her and took the gag from her mouth and threw it on the floor. He slid behind her, lifting her up to place her between his legs, resting her head against his chest. Hooten was careful to be gentle with her, the most fragile thing in the whole entire world. 

Alex cried into the crook of his neck, and he stroked her hair while she sobbed. It was all he could do to stay put together.

Hooten held her until she went to sleep. The sun was already down, and the last of the songbirds were going to bed down for the night. He could feel her breathing against him, her body slack, no tension hiding in her shoulders as it usually did. Hooten stared out the window, letting his thoughts float through his mind. His breathing synched itself with Alex’s, and he fell asleep, holding her in his arms. 

 

 

Hooten was the first to wake in the morning, and he wasn’t at all surprised to see him and Alex in exactly the same position. He felt her cheeks for a fever, and found her to be fever free. Finally, they could breathe easy. Hooten threaded his hands into her hair, stroking absentmindedly watching the day break through the window of the hostel. 

A little while later Alex awoke. She lifted her head from Hooten’s shoulder, and looked him in the eye. 

For a moment, maybe a minute or two, there was just silence between the two of them. Hooten looked at Alex, and Alex looked at Hooten. There was something unspoken between them. Not sexual, but familiarity and adoration crossed their eyes more than once. It has been scientifically proven that sleeping with someone beside you develops trust between the two. This was true for them, but in this case, it was more than just trust. Something deeper than trust. 

“How are you feeling?” Hooten whispered. Talking loudly didn’t feel right at such an early hour. 

Alex grunted in response, and thumped her head back down onto his shoulder, snuggling closer in the cold morning air. Hooten smiled, and laughed quietly. 

“Come on, let me get up and I’ll get us some breakfast.” he stood, and hopped out from behind Alex. He inspected the wound, left in the open air for the night. “Doesn’t look to bad to me,” he shrugged, “I think I did a good job.”

“Of course you would. You’re Ulysses Hooten.” Alex groaned, laying back down on her side. 

Hooten laughed. “Go back to sleep, I’ll get us something to eat. Be back soon.” 

Alex looked up at him groggily, and smiled, for what felt like the first time in a long time. Hooten would never admit it - unless he was blackout drunk - but in that moment his heart fluttered, and warmth bloomed inside of him. 

As he walked down the stairs, he ruffled his hair. _Oh hell_ , he thought, _I’m going soft_. 

He admitted to himself later that ever since he’d met her, with every adventure they’d been on, he’d fallen deeper and deeper in love with her. 


End file.
